Soap Box

Posted on 07.28.2017

Memories, Memoirs and Miles

On October 24, a project that has been 80 years in the making and 20 years in the writing will be released in the form of a book titled, Never Look at the Empty Seats, a memoir of my life, my career, and my experiences and a wee bit of advice to those whippersnappers who would like to pursue a career Iíve devoted over 60 years of my life to.

I know, I know, the title is kinda weird, so let me explain it.

When youíre just starting out, trying to establish a career, if youíre truly serious about it, youíll play just about anywhere, for just about anybody, for just about anything theyíll give you, and believe you me, youíre going to play to a lot of empty seats.

But itís not the empty seats youíre interested in, itís the seats with people in them, so you donít even look at the empty seats, as far as youíre concerned every seat is full and you do your show with the same energy and effort as if it was really a full house.

Then the people who do come to see you will probably come back the next time youíre in town and may very well bring someone with them, and that is how you build a following.

The story takes the reader from me learning my first three chords, through the beer joints, dance halls, slop chutes and skull orchards where I perfected my trade on the concert stages of America and the world where I performed it.

You meet the people who have had an influence on my life, the musicians Iíve been honored to share the stage with, and friends and family.

Thereís the small victories like having a song I co-wrote being recorded by Elvis in 1963, playing on three Bob Dylan albums in the late sixties and early seventies, my first gold, platinum and subsequently multi-platinum albums, winning a Grammy, several CMA and ACM awards and finally, at the age of 71 years old realizing a lifelong dream by becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

The hardest chapter for me to write was the one on my faith because I was sharing my own personal beliefs about redemption, forgiveness and living the Christian life and I wanted to make sure every jot and every tittle reflected my true and honest feelings.

Over a period of twenty years or so I kept writing and since my career was ongoing, I was still making records, playing over 100 concerts a year, constantly exploring new territory and doing new and exciting things, I just couldnít find a place to end it.

Actually, what I wanted was for the end of the book to be a comma instead of a period, since I had no intention of ending my career until the Lord calls me home or it becomes obvious due to health or other uncontrollable issues that itís time to exit the stage.

I truly love my profession and although I have several hobbies I am extremely fond of, there are none I would care to make an avocation out of, so as long as I enjoy getting up in the morning and pulling the bus curtains back to see what motel parking lot weíre in, as long as I get a thrill standing on the wings in the last seconds before I walk on, as long as I can make an audience happy and enjoy waking up in a different town every morning, I intend to keep on doing what Iíve done for the last 60 years.

But I did want the book to come out while I am still alive so I kept trying to find a place to end it.

It all came together when I was informed that I was being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It just made sense for this to be the comma I had been trying to find for so long.

The morning after my induction I wrote my memories and impressions of one of the greatest nights of my life, tied it to the other 20 years of my writing and voila!

Never look at the empty seats.

What do you think? (I guess you really donít know Ďcause you havenít read the book yet)

Pray for our troops, our police and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

ó Charlie Daniels

To pre-order and get a sneak peek of the first three chapters of Never Look at the Empty Seats, click HERE

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST

Feel free to comment on Charlie's soapboxes, but please refrain from profanity and anonymous posts are not allowed, we need a name and you MUST provide a valid email address. If you provide an email address, but leave the name as "Anonymous" we will pick a name for you based on your email address. No one other than website administrators will see your email address, not other posters. If you post without a valid email address, your comment (whether positive or negative) will be deleted. ó TeamCDB

Comments

Comments

Jesus is the King!

Charlie
I may not get to meet you in this world but I will in the next!
I'm proud to call you my brother in Christ! Someday we will be singing, Holy Holy Holy next to a river with Jesus!I hope you can bring your fiddle!
I love you in the Lord!
Bob GravesPosted by Bob

Aging

Do you think the young Charlie would recognize the old Charlie?Posted by Dana

Well Done

Amen, Amen & Amen Charlie, when I read this post, this scripture popped into my head, for like King David you are a man after Gods own heart.
Matthew 25:21 King James Version
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Keep on keeping on brother. God Bless PlowboyPosted by Plowboy

The Man With Golden Hair (Tribute to Pres. Trump)

I have written the lyrics for a tribute song to the POTUS. Can someone help with the score. Chorus: Make America great again, keep our jobs at home. Make America safe again from evil 'round the globe. Make our streets safe to walk by building the great wall. Make America safe again, drain the swamp and save us all." There a four full versus outlining his campaign and Hillary's loss. I need help, this could be a great help to our parties spirit now.Posted by Steve

Young Charlie

Dana wrote: Do you think the young Charlie would recognize the old Charlie?
In my honest opinion, the answer is yes. Like many people Charlie has gained wisdom with age, unlike the ones that keep drinking the Kool-aid, but maturity and wisdom only improves people like Charlie, it does not make them unrecognizable.
Proverbs 3:13 King James Version
13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
God Bless PlowboyPosted by Plowboy

Well, OK.

I think I wondered more whether the young Charlie had a glimpse of the path he would take to get to where he is now. The Charlie of 50 years ago sounds a lot different than the Charlie of today but the path that we trod shapes up early. I just wonder if he saw where he would go?Posted by dana